xllV. ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS. 



pheric engine " (1705) was the first reciprocating engine 

 operated by the agency of steam. A more detailed account 

 was given of the life and work of James Watt and of his 

 long connection with the historic firm of Boulton and Watt, 

 in the course of which were described the various stages 

 in the investigation of the defects of the Newcomen engine 

 by which finally in 1769 the genius of Watt enabled him to 

 produce what is essentually the modern reciprocating steam 

 engine. In this connection illustrations were shown of the 

 magnificent example of one of Watt's earliest engines, 

 which after being erected for the Whitbread Brewery, 

 London, in 1783, continued to work well for 102 years, and 

 was then taken down and presented to the Sydney Technical 

 College, in whose " James Watt Museum " it now stands. 

 The modern applications of the steam engine for power- 

 station purposes, for locomotion by road and rail, and for 

 marine navigation were then described, concluding with 

 an account of the huge engines of the latest Atlantic 

 express steamer as representing the crowning effort of the 

 art and science of steam engineering. The lecture con- 

 cluded with an account of (1) the modern gas engine of 

 large size using cheap " producer " gas or the waste gases 

 from blast furnaces as fuel, and of (2) typical steam turbines. 

 A comparison was made of the thermodynamic and 

 mechanical characteristics of these two as compared with 

 the reciprocating engine, and reasons were given why the 

 former are in some cases replacing the latter. The lecture 

 was illustrated throughout by limelight views and diagrams. 



